HVK Archives: Bangladeshis are world's happiest people
Bangladeshis are world's happiest people - The Asian Age
Abhik Sen
()
December 12, 1998
Title: Bangladeshis are world's happiest people
Author: Abhik Sen
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: December 12, 1998
Would you believe it, Bangladesh is the happiest nation in the world!
The United Stats, on the other hand, is a sad story: it ranks only 46th
in the World Happiest Survey. That's way behind India, the fifth
happiest place in the world, and others including Ghana and Latvia,
Croatia and Estonia. Research led by London School of Economics
professors into the link between personal spending power and the
perceived quality of life has conclusively proved that money can buy
everything but happiness. The study revealed that people in Bangladesh,
one of the poorest countries in the world, derive far more happiness
from their small incomes than, for example, the British (32nd on the
list) do from their relatively large bank balances. In fact, people in
most rich countries including Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada,
Japan and others are much more unhappier than their poorer counterparts
in countries like the Dominican Republic and Armenia.
Most unfortunate, however, are Russians and people in some other parts
of the former Soviet Union. They are neither rich nor happy, indicates
the World Happiness Survey. Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovaki, Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria and Moldova follow the United States in the
list to bring up the rear.
The study shows that although the British have twice as much money to
spend in real terms compared with 40 years ago, their perceived quality
of life has not improved. Earlier surveys revealed that many Britons
thought money could bring happiness. The new study show that such a link
still exists in poor countries because a small increase in income can
mean large improvements in lifestyle.
However, beyond a certain income-level that direct relationship break
down. According to the research, happiness in rich countries now is far
more dependent on close personal relationship, good health and job
satisfaction.
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